Research
We seek to understand what causes people to perceive themselves as insiders or outsiders in a variety of social situations. We then design and test interventions to mitigate the impact of these dynamics on a broad range of diverse social groups.
Our Approach
Insider/outsider dynamics can be identified in nearly all social situations that affect our daily lives. Insiders are members of social groups that define —explicitly or implicitly—what is normal and expected behavior for everyone in a social system. Outsiders are members of social groups who often work harder to feel that they belong and that they are valued. Individuals and social groups can experience insider/outsider dynamics. Moreover, the same person can be an insider in one social situation and an outsider in another.
We tend to focus on insider/outsider dynamics related to social problems our society faces today. For example, our work seeks to address: academic underperformance and opportunity gaps in education, career-related underperformance and opportunity gaps in businesses, difficult dialogues across group divides, and health disparities.
Our research begins by identifying features of social settings that trigger the insider/outsider dynamics that we seek to understand. We primarily conduct randomized controlled trials in the field because they help us to understand insider/outsider dynamics as they unfold in the real world. Once we clearly understand the nature of these dynamics and their causal mechanisms, we develop, test and refine interventions that maximize people’s ability to thrive and succeed in the social setting we are investigating.
We conduct research at multiple levels of analysis because different methods offer insights into unique aspects of what we seek to investigate. Our methodological approaches include: field experiments, behavioral studies, physiological measurements, hormone assays, social networks, large-scale social surveys, interviews, and linguistic text analysis. Our collaborators come from a variety of domains including: social, clinical, and cognitive psychology; neuroscience; sociology; economics; and business management.
Identity-threatening and identity-safe environments: Causes, mechanisms, consequences
Our research begins with the assumption that situational cues in schools, workplaces and other social contexts convey whether members of certain social groups will perceive themselves as insiders or outsiders. One goal of this research is to classify the kinds of cues that are imbued with identity-salient insider/outsider information.
Closing opportunity gaps, fostering belonging, building trust in classrooms and workplaces: Psychological interventions
We seek to understand when and how psychological interventions improve motivation and performance-based outcomes and in which contexts are psychological interventions appropriate. We work on a variety of social psychological interventions — belonging, mindset, critical feedback interventions.
The social life of the diversity, equity and inclusion brain: Credibility of DEI-related scientific evidence
Findings from psychology and social cognitive neuroscience are widely used to motivate lay audiences to embrace diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the workplace. Our research seeks to explore the nature of this popularized DEI evidence, where it comes from and how it relates to the structure of scientific knowledge in social psychology and social cognitive affective neuroscience.
Additional Projects
Intersectional invisibility
Decolonization in social psychology publications and methods
Diversity science
Religious identity and Muslim youth
Income inequality